Craig Bellamy's squad Set to Take on Whichever Opponent in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Fixture

The team's focus are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on home soil.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will embrace a match against any opponent following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many supporters were saying recently, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But for me, that could be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a solid qualification campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's more notable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.